We recently announced that YouTube hit an incredible milestone of 1 billion unique monthly visitors, connecting 15 percent of the planet to the videos they love. And those global fan communities are watching more than 6 billion hours of video each month on YouTube; almost an hour a month for every person on Earth and 50 percent more this year than last.

In addition, media companies like Time Warner, The Chernin Group, Bertelsman, Discovery Communications and Comcast have all made significant investments in companies that create, aggregate or service content for YouTube in the last 12 months. And tonight at our Brandcast event for advertisers in New York, another major media company continued that momentum. DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg announced that his company acquired AwesomenessTV, one of the most subscribed-to, teen-focused networks on YouTube. This acquisition gives DreamWorks an opportunity to align itself with Brian Robbins’ powerful, next-generation, online video powerhouse. By partnering with more than 55,000 YouTube channels that collectively represent more than 14 million subscribers and almost 800 million video views, Brian successfully created a YouTube network comprised of one of the most valuable consumer groups--Generation C. This audience is defined by its desire to be constantly connected, and at the center of creating and curating content for social communities.

DreamWorks Animation’s major announcement underscores a shift in consumer behavior, and now, Nielsen has further amplified this point by concluding that YouTube reaches more U.S. adults ages 18-34 than any cable network. And history--from the transition to radio, then TV, from network to cable--tells us that advertisers always follow the audience. In line with that trend, we also unveiled this evening that the ANA Alliance for Family Entertainment (AFE)--a group of nearly 40 national advertisers, whose combined ad spend represents 37 percent of all U.S. television advertising dollars--will buy media across 32 channels of family-friendly content on YouTube.

Much like our content creators, we find that brands on YouTube--like T-Mobile, Samsung, Dove and Pepsi--all share a common objective: to cultivate a direct relationship with their consumers--one built on engagement and authenticity. These companies know that on YouTube, it isn’t just about rallying behind one show; it is about reaching the passionate fan communities of Gen C, an audience that influences more than $500 billion in annual consumer spending. As a result, we’re seeing a myriad of brands increasing their media spend, building channels, and discovering first-hand that the interactions they have with their fans on YouTube drive engagement.

Content creators have long recognized the power of YouTube’s platform to connect with an audience. Advertisers are increasingly doing the same. Together we’ll continue to build YouTube as a global destination for the next generation of entertainment.